Saturday, 26 January 2013

Kato was among the 100 people whose names and photographs were
published in October 2010 by Giles Muhame in the Ugandan tabloid
newspaper Rolling Stone in an article which not only outed him and the
others, but also alluded to their execution through an the caption “HANG
THEM,” which appeared next to a picture of a noose. Together with
others outed LGBTI Ugandans such as Kasha Jaqueline Nabagesera and
Pepe Julian Onziema (SMUG), Kato successfully sued the newspaper to
force it to stop publishing the names and pictures. of people it
believed to be gay or lesbian. The court ordered the newspaper to pay
Kato and the other two plaintiffs US$600.David Kato’s story as an activist is elucidated in the must watch documentary film, “Call Me Kuchu,”
and if you never had the opportunity to know or meet David, after
watching the film, you will feel as if he is your brother too. The film
received acclaim around the world and played to an historic 6 minute
standing ovation in the Castro, San Francisco. In the midst of making
the film, David Kato was murdered, sending friends, his dear family and
dedicated comrades around the world into deep shock and grief.

Considered a father of Uganda's gay rights movement and described as "Uganda’s first openly gay man,” Kato was a teacher by profession. He served as the advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), an LGBTI advocacy group, at the time of his death...The memorial service is scheduled to begin at 3-6 pm at St Paul's reconciliation and Equality Center and members of SMUG, his family and other LGBTI activist are expected to attend.

Gay parenting won the Oxford Union debate this Thursday evening, with a resounding majority happy to have gay parents.

Compassion and common sense triumph again.

More interestingly, the headlining act, Scott Lively, author of The Pink Swastika, which blames gay people for the rise of Nazis, was absent:

According to Pink News Scott Lively, a staunch anti-gay evangelical
Christian, was scheduled to speak at the debate, “but was unable to
attend because of an administrative oversight.”

Would that be the same 'administrative oversight' whereby Nick Griffin, leader of Britain's fascist National Party, was 'accidentally' invited, and then promptly un-invited?

Deary me, Oxford Union. For a bunch of educated elite, you certainly seem to have trouble filling out a diary.

They've apparently re-scheduled him for 31st January. The only event booked for that date appears to be a debate on Israel.

Really OU, you honestly want to go there with Scott Lively? Think you would have been safer sticking to the gay rights debate. Still, it would make a novel argument: how the persecution of the Jews was caused by gay Nazis.

It seems that the Oxford Union are looking to promote controversy at all costs, disregarding the fight for human rights going on in Uganda in favour of a bit of sensationalist entertainment.

Thursday, 17 January 2013

Tonight, the Oxford Union in the UK proudly welcomes a renowned US anti-gay hate preacher who is currently being sued for helping to orchestrate the persecution of LGBT people in Uganda.

A man who has been quoted as saying:

“The gay movement is an evil institution.”

“The Nazis were
Super-Macho [gays]... the Storm Troopers are the ones that helped Hitler
come to power at the beginning. The ones that would go and smash
windows, y’know, the jackbooted thugs type. You also see them in
prisons. Super Machos are very often brutish, brutish, animalistic men
that want to hurt other people. There’s no mercy in them... They are so
far from normalcy that they are killers. They are serial killers. Mass
murderers... This is the kind of person it takes to run a gas chamber,
or to do a mass murder, like the Rwandan stuff...”

“If you deny and reject the design of your own body [by being gay]...
then you are going to receive, in your body, the penalty of your error,
which is appropriate – can anyone say AIDS?”

"Nobody has been able to stop them [homosexuals] so far, I’m hoping Uganda can."

“On the positive side, my host and ministry partner in Kampala, Stephen
Langa, was overjoyed with the results of our efforts and predicted
confidently that the coming weeks would see significant improvement in
the moral climate of the nation, and a massive increase in pro-family
activism in every social sphere. He said that a respected observer of
society in Kampala had told him that our campaign was like a nuclear
bomb against the "gay" agenda in Uganda. I pray that this, and the
predictions, are true”.

Of only ten anti-gay organisations designated ‘hate organisations’ by
the Southern Poverty Law Centre in America, Scott Lively is directly
involved with three of them: Abiding Truth Ministries, Watchmen on the
Walls and the School of Christian Activism.

Despite appeals from representatives of both the House of Lords and House of Commons, UK Home Secretary, Theresa May, who has the power to stop Lively entering the country, has refused to even respond.

The Home Office recently threatened to ban Ugandan politicians if the bill is passed, yet seems quite happy to welcome orchestrators of the bill in the meantime.

Levels of disgust at Lively's appearance are rising, with a recent Guardian article:

Uganda's 'kill the gays' bill is hurting the country's economy, claims a senior government minister... [who has] admitted the controversy over the proposed legislation is having a damaging effect on the country's coffers.

During a debate with other MPs, he slammed politicians for not recognizing the long-term potential damage the law could have on the country's economy.

It must have taken a lot to stand up and say this, but he's right. Uganda has lost diplomatic, educational and donor ties over the Bahati bill, not to mention the image it is creating of a tourist dead zone.

The damage caused to the economy by this bill will create a worsening situation for all of Uganda's citizens.

If you'd like to write to Keith Muhakanizi, to thank him for having the courage to raise this issue, and for talking such sense, you can e-mail him at: keith.muhakanizi@finance.go.ug

He's coming to take part in a debate on Gay Rights. We called the Oxford Union, who told us that you can't attend the debate unless you are a member of the Union. The debate will be recorded but, again, you can't listen to it unless you're a member.

Some things you can do:

Tell everyone you know. Get down there with placards: The Oxford Union, Frewin Court, Oxford, OX1 3JB.

Write to your MP and representatives of the House of Lords asking them why on earth they have allowed him to enter the country.

The Oxford Union is a bastion of free speech. It's not a surprise that they would invite Lively. In return, it's no surprise that opponents of the Kill the Gays bill would object to this. Object, and object loudly.

Case adjourned till 11th March. Case started late and it was a day for counsels of both sides to highlight the details of submitted files. The judge also tackled an issue of SMUG registration and our lawyer said its not registered and judge replied this case would go well if SMUG was a registered NGO but still he said that all Ugandans have a right to assemble and that individuals have rights of law suits.

SMUG is a coalition organisation of around eight LGBT groups in Uganda, coming together to fight this bill. When asked whether it was funding that prevented SMUG from registering as an NGO, the reply was clear:

No, [the] process is on, but problem is that the new NGO charter does not support gay registration.

Rather a difficult situation whereby the court is suggesting the proceedings might go better if SMUG were a registered NGO, but they are prevented from registering due to their cause.

We'll update again on this case as and when it happens - presumably in March.

On Saturday, there is a local protest in St Neots, UK, brought about by the actions of a British preacher named Paul Shinners.

As you can see from the poster above, the guy associates with some very dodgy characters. The event was organised by the catchily-titled National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches, Uganda (NFBPC).

The Provincial Overseer of the NFBPC is Bishop David Kiganda, the same David Kiganda who made a compelling New Year's speech:

“We ask Members of Parliament to stop wasting time debating the Bill but simply pass it to save school-going children, who are at risk of being recruited. Our leaders should desist from any act that would frustrate this proposed law...”

Wednesday, 9 January 2013

A college in Uganda has lost the accreditation of its degrees by a UK university, because of a disagreement surrounding anti-gay legislation seeking to intensify penalties for homosexuality...

University of Buckingham issued a statement which voiced concerns surrounding its partnership with Victoria University, and the legislation which is due to be considered by Ugandan parliament...Victoria University also realised a statement, however didn’t mention the legislation specifically and instead cited issues surrounding “diversity”.

Although it is sad that students may experience disruptions, especially those students who do not support Bahati's bill, educational institutions should be leading the way in equality, not promoting discrimination. We hope the relationship between the two universities will resume in a more equal and compassionate era.

If you would like to express your support for Buckingham Universtity's actions, we'd encourage you to send them an e-mail: info@buckingham.ac.uk or tweet: @UniOfBuckingham

Tuesday, 8 January 2013

[UPDATE MARCH 2014: We have completely revised our stance on Facebook - they are blatantly ignoring homophobic content, adding to the discrimination against gay people rather than preventing it. Their 'community standards' mean nothing.]

There has been a recent spate of campaigning via the SMUG forum regarding a particularly vicious site called Kampala Exposed: Rumors and Facts.

Facebook removed an anti-gay page aimed at 'outing' Ugandans who were
preceived - or rumored - to be gay and could be persecuted under the
law. The page, called "Kampala Exposed: Facts and Rumors," was brought
to wider attention by a Change.org petition started by the LGBT organization Freedom and Roam Uganda...

Well done to both companies for that. Certainly more pro-active than Citibank & Barclays appear to have been.

However...

[UPDATE 9th January: Blogger have taken down the site! :)]

We noticed today that Blogger hasn't taken the site off air yet. Perhaps there needs to be greater communication between these three giants of Social Media when it comes to agreeing what constitutes 'unaceptable,' and coordinated efforts to remove offending items?

All three sites have high standards of freedom of speech and expression, so if it's offensive enough for one to remove, it seems time consuming to have to approach the other two separately.

Today's blog post features a charming tirade against Mark Zuckerberg (as if he's going to be reading!) for (personally?) disabling the account. It goes on to tell him:

Well I am told you are gay yourself, maybe that's where the fascination comes from.

Yes, people, the author of Kampala Exposed appears to be bat-sh!t crazy.

If you would like to express your concern for their mental health, or just sign them up for some online anger management courses, you can reach them at: kampalaexposed@gmail.com

The case against Lively asserts that he went beyond hate-mongering and that he actually actively pursued a strategy together with influential co-conspirators, including pastors and parliamentarians in Uganda, to “criminalize advocacy,” by conspiring to violate LGBTI Ugandan’s rights to free speech, assembly and the freedom of association by LGBTI groups.

After hearing argument by both sides today, the Judge reserved his decision. A further and more detailed report shall follow this report. In the meantime the Judge has reserved Judgement for a later date as to whether or not the case will be dismissed or proceed to trial.

It is unclear when a decision to proceed will be made, but we've all got our fingers crossed for a positive outcome.

You can stay up-to-date on Twitter via the Center for Constitutional Rights: @TheCCR and SMUG: @SMUG2004

A Ugandan LGBTQ rights group has filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court against a Massachusetts-based evangelist, Scott Lively, for violating international law by inciting the persecution of gay men and lesbians in Uganda.

As well as following the Twitter coverage, you can also join the Facebook group.

Tuesday, 1 January 2013

[BREAKING NEWS 2nd January 2012: "Another member of youth on rock as been arrested at exactly 7:30pm. KABUYE NAJIBU and BAD BLACK who had gone to visit KAWESI JOSEPH at kawempe police station lucky enough BAD BLACK managed to escape and NAJIBU is also in prison now." - Police seem to be waiting to arrest people visiting Joseph Kaweesi.]

According to reports that started to stream in on the evening of Monday, Dec 31, Kaweesi Joseph, the co-founder of Youth on Rock Foundation was arrested by police officers and is currently in custody at Kawempe police station.

Youth on Rock Foundation (YRF) is an LGBTI group of youths and professionals dealing mainly with health and well-being. It is based in the capital city, Kampala...

Observers point out that whereas there is indeed a law that when one can be charged for 'carnal knowledge' or rape or defilement, there is currently no law that speaks to the so called “recruitment” of homosexuals.

According to Melanie Nathan, the arrest is closely tied in with the current Kill the Gays Bill that is expected to be debated this year once Parliament resumes...

The incident comes just a few days after the offices of LGBTI group, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) were broken into and vandalised.

If you'd like to take action, voice your concern over this in the following ways:

If you're in the UK, follow that up by writing to your MP and the House of Lords. If you're in America, try the Select Committee on Foreign Relations (info at the bottom of this post). If you're from another country, please leave details of who to contact in a comment and we'll add them.

Tweet and e-mail Prime Minister, PatrickMbabazi: @AmamaMbabazi / ps@opm.go.ug and President Museveni: museveni@starcom.co.ug reminding them of their pledge not to support the bill, or the persecution of gay people (click their names to read what they said).

E-mail and tweet Amnesty International: sct@amnesty.org.uk / @Amnesty and Human Rights Watch: hrwpress@hrw.org / @hrw urging them to investigate this and make it a campaign priority.

"SMUG offices were broken into and vandalized and most office property stolen. This was noticed on the 26th by one staff member who had gone to pick a couple of documents from office."This is not the first time that the offices of an LGBTI organization in Uganda was broken into and property stolen...

Among the items stolen are computers, gas cooker, audio recorder and water dispenser.

The offices of Freedom & Roam Uganda were also broken into.

There is real concern that the thieves may use the stolen data to fuel hate attacks, and that the police, in the shadow of the impending Kill the Gays bill, will do little to bring them to justice.